Ethiopia: Imprisoned journalists write to UN Sec. Gen. detailing their mistreatment

Elias Gebru and Anania Sori

ESAT News (February 3, 2017)

Detained Ethiopian journalists Elias Gebru and Anania Sori wrote an open letter to the UN Secretary General to draw attention to their plight in the hands of their tormentors.

Jailed by the Ethiopian regime two months ago following the declaration of the state of emergency, the journalists said in the letter that they had been locked up in isolation for three days and denied visitation by family and friends.

The journalists, who never saw a day in a count of law, said they have been denied access to medical care and are being held in a small room with over 50 other prisoners some of whom are mentally ill.

Authorities arrested the duo, who worked for a widely read magazine, “Addis Gets,” (New Page) accusing them of  having links to political organizations outlawed by the regime – Patriotic Ginbot 7 and the Oromo Liberation Front – “to undermine the constitution and the sovereignty of the country.”

Ethiopian authorities routinely accuse opponents and critical journalists of “terrorism” and have used the state of emergency to further crackdown on dissents and the press.